Buddha or
Buddha Gautama,
also known as
Shakyamuni Buddha,
was a great
spiritual Master from
ancient India.
Born as Prince
Siddhārtha Gautama
in 5th century BC,
he would have naturally
inherited the vast wealth
of a kingdom.
However,
the prince one day left
the palace life in search
of spiritual knowledge.
After years of
contemplative seeking,
the Buddha attained
enlightenment
under the Bodhi tree.
He then shared
the merits of his practice
by providing a method
for other sentient beings
to be freed from the cycle
of death and rebirth.
The rich treasury
of Buddha’s spiritual
teachings on universal
truths are studied and
revered to this day
for their deep wisdom
and compassion.
Today we would like to
share with you
the sage teachings
of the Buddha,
excerpts of chapter four
of The Sutra of the Lotus
of the Wonderful Dharma,
also known as
the Lotus Sutra.

Harmonious viewers, it has been a pleasure
to have you with us
for today’s episode of
Between Master
and Disciples
here on
Supreme Master Television.
Join us again
next Wednesday
for part 2 of
“Buddhism’s
Sacred Scripture:
The Sutra of the Lotus of
the Wonderful Dharma,
Chapter 4.”
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Our Co-Inhabitants
is up next after
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We wish you
much love and kindness
in the days ahead.

Enlightened viewers, thank you
for your gentle presence
for today’s episode of
Between Master
and Disciples.
Join us again
next Wednesday
for part 3 of
“Buddhism’s
Sacred Scripture:
The Sutra of the Lotus of
the Wonderful Dharma,
Chapter 4.”
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Joyously, we wish you
many blessings
from the Divine.

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thank you for joining
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Between Master
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Melodies of Heaven!

Last episode,
we learned that
after hearing the Buddha
made the prophecy
that Shariputra
would attain anuttara-
samyak-sambodhi
(the highest perfection),
the disciples of
the Buddha were grateful
to this new revelation:
“We have gained what
we have never before.
Suddenly we have been
able to hear a Dharma
(true teaching) that is
rarely encountered,
something we never
expected up to now, and
we look upon ourselves
as profoundly fortunate.
We have gained great
goodness and benefit,
an immeasurably rare jewel,
something unsought
that came of itself.”
And to express their
gratefulness and
made their point clear,
they told the parable
of a wealthy father
whose long lost
and impoverished son
had finally returned
to him,
but the son was unaware
of his own status,
nor did he recognize
his father.
So the wealthy father
had to employ expedient
means to approach
the son in order to
help him realize
his true and
elevated station in life.

Last episode, we learned
that when the disciples
of the Buddha heard of
Shariputra’s
future attainment
of anuttara-samyak-
sambodhi
(the highest perfection),
they become enlightened
to their own potential:
“Now in this sutra
the Buddha expounds
only the one vehicle.
And in the past,
when in the presence
of the bodhisattvas
he disparaged
the voice-hearers
as those who delight
in a lesser doctrine,
the Buddha was in fact
employing
the Great Vehicle
to teach and convert us.
Therefore we say that,
though originally
we had no mind to covet
or seek such a thing,
now the great treasure
of the Dharma King
has come to us
of its own accord.
It is something that
the sons of the Buddha
have a right to acquire,
and now they have
acquired all of it.”
In this episode,
Mahakashyapa poetically
retold the parable
of the wealthy man’s
long lost son who had
degraded himself
to a lowly position in life,
as a way to
further demonstrate
his understanding
of the significance of
the Buddha’s teaching.

The Sutra of the Lotus
of the Wonderful Dharma
(Lotus Sutra)

Chapter Four:
Belief and Understanding
At that time,
when the men
of lifelong wisdom
Subhuti, Mahakatyayana,
Mahakashyapa,
and Mahamaudgalyayana
heard from the Buddha
a Dharma (true teaching)
that they had never
known before, and heard
the World-Honored One
prophesy that
Shariputra would attain
anuttara-samyak-sambodhi
(the highest perfection),
their minds were moved
as seldom before
and danced for joy.
At once
they rose from their seats,
arranged their robes,
bared their
right shoulders and
bowed their right knees
to the ground.

Pressing their palms
together with a single mind,
they bent their bodies
in a gesture of respect
and, gazing up
in reverence at the face
of the Honored One,
said to the Buddha:
"We stand
at the head of the monks
and are all of us
old and decrepit.
We believed that we had
already attained nirvana
(the highest paradise)
and that we were
incapable of doing more,
and so we never
sought to attain
anuttara-samyak-sambodhi
(the highest perfection).

"It has been
a long time since
the World-Honored One
first began to expound
the Dharma (true teaching).
During that time
we have sat in our seats,
our bodies weary and inert,
meditating solely
on the concepts
of emptiness, non-form,
and non-action.
But as to the pleasures
and transcendental power
of the Dharma
(true teaching)
of the bodhisattva
or the purifying
of Buddha lands
and the salvation
of living beings-these
our minds took no joy in.
Why is this?
Because
the World-Honored One
had made it possible
for us to transcend
the threefold world
and to attain the
enlightenment of nirvana
(the highest paradise).

Moreover,
we are old and decrepit.
When we heard of this
anuttara-samyak-sambodhi
(the highest perfection),
which the Buddha uses
to teach and convert
the bodhisattvas,
our minds were not filled
with any thought of joy
or approval.
But now in the presence
of the Buddha
we have heard
this voice-hearer
receive a prophecy
that he will attain
anuttara-samyak-sambodhi
(the highest perfection)
and our minds
are greatly delighted.
We have gained
what we have never before.
Suddenly
we have been able to hear
a Dharma (true teaching)
that is rarely encountered,
something we never
expected up to now, and
we look upon ourselves
as profoundly fortunate.
We have gained great
goodness and benefit, an
immeasurably rare jewel,
something unsought
that came of itself.

World-Honored One,
we would be pleased now
to employ a parable to
make clear our meaning.
Suppose there was a man,
still young in years,
who abandoned his father,
ran away,
and lived for a long time
in another land,
for perhaps ten, twenty,
or even fifty years.
As he drew older,
he found himself
increasingly poor
and in want.
He hurried about
in every direction,
seeking clothing and food,
wandering
farther and farther afield
until by chance
he turned his steps
in the direction
of his homeland.

The father meanwhile
had been searching
for his son
without success and
had taken up residence
in a certain city.
The father's household
was very wealthy,
with immeasurable riches
and treasures.
Gold, silver, lapis lazuli,
coral, amber,
and crystal beads
all filled and overflowed
from his storehouses.
He had many grooms
and menservants,
clerks and attendants,
and elephants, horses,
carriages, beyond number.
He engaged in profitable
ventures at home and
in all the lands around,
and also had dealings
with many merchants
and traveling vendors.

At this time
the impoverished son
wandered
from village to village,
passing through
various lands and towns,
till at last
he came to the city where
his father was residing.
The father thought
constantly of his son,
but though he had been
parted from him
for over fifty years,
he had never told
anyone else
about the matter.
He merely pondered
to himself, his heart filled
with regret and longing.
He thought to himself that
he was old and decrepit.
He had great wealth and
possessions, gold silver
and rare treasures that
filled and overflowed
from his storehouses,
but he had no son,
so that if one day
he should die, the wealth
and possessions
would be scattered
and lost, for there was
no one to entrust them to.

This was the reason
he constantly thought
so earnestly of his son.
And he also had
this thought:
If I could find my son
and entrust my wealth
and possessions to him,
then I could feel contented
and easy in mind
and would have
no more worries.

World-Honored One,
at that time
the impoverished son
drifted from one kind of
employment to another
until he came by chance
to his father's house.
He stood by
the side of the gate,
gazing far off at his father,
who was seated
on a lion throne,
his legs supported
by a jeweled footrest,
while Brahmans, noblemen,
and householders,
uniformly deferential,
surrounded him.
Festoons of gems
worth thousands
or tens of thousands
adorned his body,
and clerks, grooms
and menservants
holding white fly whisks
stood in attendance
to left and right.
A jeweled canopy
covered him,
with flowered banners
hanging from it,
perfumed water
had been sprinkled
over the ground,
heaps of rare flowers
were scattered about,
and precious objects
were ranged here and there,
brought out, put away,
handed over and received.
Such were
the many different types
of adornments,
the emblems of prerogative
and marks of distinction.

When the impoverished son
saw how great
was his father's power
and authority, he was
filled with fear and awe
and regretted he had ever
come to such a place.
Secretly
he thought to himself:
This must be some king,
or one
who is equal to a king.
This is not
the sort of place where
I can hire out my labor
and gain a living.
It would be better to
go to some poor village
where, if I work hard,
I will find a place
and can easily earn food
and clothing.
If I stay here for long,
I may be seized
and pressed into service!
Having thought in this way,
he raced from the spot.

At that time
the rich old man,
seated on his lion throne,
spied his son
and recognized him
immediately.
His heart was
filled with great joy
and at once he thought:
Now I have someone to
entrust my storehouses of
wealth and possessions to!
My thoughts
have constantly been
with this son of mine but
I had no way of seeing him.
Now suddenly he had
appeared of himself,
which is exactly
what I would have wished.
Though I am old
and decrepit,
I still care what becomes
of my belongings.

Thereupon
he dispatched a bystander
to go after the son
as quickly as possible
and bring him back.
At that time
the messenger raced swiftly
after the son
and laid hold of him.
The impoverished son,
alarmed and fearful,
cried out
in an angry voice,
'I have done nothing wrong!
Why am I being seized?'
But the messenger
held on to him more tightly
than ever and forcibly
dragged him back.

At that time the son
thought to himself,
I have committed
no crime and
yet I am taken prisoner.
Surely I am going
to be put to death!
He was more terrified
than ever
and sank to the ground,
fainting with despair.

The father, observing this
from a distance,
spoke to the messenger,
saying, 'I have no need
of this man.
Don't force him
to come here,
but sprinkle cold water
on his face so
he will regain his senses.
Then say nothing more
to him!'

Why did he do that?
Because the father knew
that his son was of humble
outlook and ambition,
and that his own rich
and eminent position
would be difficult
for the son to accept.
He knew very well
that this was his son,
but as a form
of expedient means
he refrained from
saying to anyone,
'this is my son.'

The messenger
said to the son,
"I am releasing you now.
You may go anywhere
you wish.'
The impoverished son
was delighted,
having gained what
he had not had before,
and picked himself up
from the ground and
went off to the poor village
in order to look for food
and clothing.

At that time the rich man,
hoping to
entice his son back again,
decided to employ
an expedient means
and send two men
as secret messengers,
men who were lean
and haggard and had
no imposing appearance.
'Go seek out
that poor man and
approach him casually.
Tell him you know a place
where he can earn twice
the regular wage.
If he agrees
to the arrangement,
then bring him here
and put him to work.
If he asks what sort of work
he will be put to, say that
he will be employed
to clear away excrement,
and that the two of you
will be working with him.'

The two messengers then
set out at once
to find the poor man, and
when they had done so,
spoke to him as
they had been instructed.
At that time
the impoverished son
asked for an advance
on his wages and then
went with the men to
help clear away excrement.

When the father saw
his son, he pitied
and wondered at him.
Another day,
when he was gazing out
the window, he saw
his son in the distance,
his body thin and haggard,
filthy with excrement,
dirt, sweat and defilement.
The father immediately
took off his necklaces,
his soft fine garments
and his other adornments
and put on clothes that
were ragged and soiled.
He smeared dirt
on his body, took in
his right hand a utensil
for removing excrement,
and assuming
a gruff manner,
spoke to the laborers,
saying,
'Keep at your work!
You mustn't be lazy!'
By employing
this expedient means,
he was able to
approach his son.